TallBlondJohn

The Dukes do, aft of the VLS. But your platform idea sounds good, should look cool (which is what matters)

Looking very good. Perhaps the Exocets would be set to launch sideways like Harpoon to clear B turret? If your carpet monster is big enough to eat a 6" turret that's quite worrying - but then again its Western Australia so anything is possible I suppose.

107 Squadron apparently (flyingmachines.ru)

Interesting drop tanks... or maybe long range cruise missiles?

Superb. I now want one. Airfix, see to this immediately. Thank you.

Ripping Yarns, Tomkinson's Schooldays, the games board: SHOOTING The following boys have been shot...

Aha, you mean World of Warships: Yes this is a close match to the Friedman plan. To be picky, no way these ships would ever have lasted long enough for Seawolf and even Exocet is unlikely. I'd just drop a 6" turret and scratch build the extra 3" pair as that is one of the designs that was considered. MRS = Medium Range fire directors. There was one for each 3" pair, so 12 secondary battery directors in total. I think the picture above has them as those small round things just ahead of each main 6" director. For a modernised version, Seaslug would be fun and appropriate for the 60s. Maybe drop some 3" for Seacats and both X and Y 6" in favour of a Seaslug and two radars? Like this but 3 turrets forward (Shipbucket design). The missiles would come up through X turret's barbette for loading into the launcher in Y position. You are right, no TT by this time but you have to make the space.

Hi Jeff. Do you have Friedman's British Cruisers: Two World Wars and After? (If not, its well worth getting, its a treasure trove of material). Page 267 has a plan view of design ZA (ZA and ZB were generally the same layout as Z, just slightly different tonnages from different weight distribution). Your layout above is very close - there is a narrow deck extending back from your C turret all the way to X turret. A single crane behind the forward funnel serves the boats stored on this deck between the funnels. There is another deck on top extending the forward superstructure (which is very narrow to give the 4 AA directors good arcs) to under the funnel, and a matching narrow deck after carrying the rear funnel, mast and 3" directors (one AA director per turret, plus one MRS per pair). Your superstructure parts look too wide, but I'm sure you can justify that if you want to (more room needed for radar operators etc). Oddly the funnels are slanted like a town, not vertical like a colony or Tiger. There are eight 3" as you have them, but the middle pair are a deck higher on sideways extensions from the funnel deck level. Two whaleboats on davits abreast of the forward mast and a pair of quad torpedo tubes (!) on each side (maybe the RN had been studying Japanese cruisers) on each side of the crane/boat area. Personally I'd build it with 4 6" twins, it will look better and more room for the huge magazines required. Per Friedman P.373, design Z2, Z2A, Z2B and Z2C had 4 turrets. There were 3 and 5 turret designs as well, with slightly different dimensions. Some even had quad 3" for max dakka. If such a ship had survived to the Exocet era then Seacats would have replaced some of the 3" and possibly Sea Slug in place of a 6" turret - maybe even two, one at each end if you can cram in the fire control (Shipbucket has some GW25 designs with 6" and Sea Slug). There would need to be room for the big magazine and loading system. No TTs by then. Helicopter deck?

Yes - was that Airfix or just hard work?

Very tidy - what did you use for masking the camo?

The Airfix Belfast - there are various inaccuracies but an easy one to fix is the turrets, they are too shallow. If you glue some plastic sheet to the top it helps them look right. But its a great fun build- so many guns!

Beautiful. Would love to see your other sailing ships.

Add at the end, varnish, poke out the windows and then use Krystal Klear to add the windows? Decals or not this is how I always do windows this small, saves masking

Beautiful camo scheme - if I ever get round to this kit that might get borrowed (the sincerest form of flattery)

Try looking online for images from the Wasa museum - it's superb and only one of Stockholm's many fantastic museums. There's a large scale model of Wasa at the museum as launched, so it shows the original painting (as near as can be figured out), and there are colour reproductions of many of the statues. and yes, looking at the real thing you can see she was doomed from the start, far too narrow in the beam.

Beautiful build. One thing - it may be the camera lens but it looks like the rigging is pulling the foremast backwards and off the tripod? A dab of superglue hopefully will fix that. I had a ship rigged for a year or two until suddenly ping and the foremast flew to pieces 😞

Perhaps add a dark green for tiger stripes? Strong shadows on Scarif.

Oh yes, check out the Latécoère 631 on Hush-Kit: https://hushkit.net/2022/03/20/fantastique-french-airliners-of-the-1940s/ Has anybody done a Sud-Est SE.200 Amphitrite? Swastikas will help it sell (sadly). 1/144 might be a better scale though.

Looks good to me. Will build one one day

Superb - and shows how big the Hustler is. I saw the Blackbird at Farnborough in 1987 (I think) and it still looked like something from another planet.

Is this kit better than the Sword? Asking for a friend Thanks

I think the dog flew the plane? (curse you Red Baron!)

Lovely. I think my earliest memory is looking at the window of one of these - maybe even this one - as it flew into Guernsey. I would have been just over three years old

I remember the Matchbox very fondly as the first kit I manged to finish properly (paint etc). I don't remember ever seeing an Airfix one - what was the box art like? Nice work!

My two cents - I think the scout schemes are perfect for, well scouting and recon. But the AT-AT is more about intimidation than pure military practicality - so is camo appropriate? Love the splinter schemes though, they would make sense in a high-threat environment.